3 weeks ago
Katie Ericson
Can’t wait to cheer you on (& in the place it all started)!
3 weeks ago
Can’t wait to cheer you on (& in the place it all started)!
Event date: 2nd March 2025
Steven Ericson is raising money for The Change Foundation
Why I’m running
I started running in fall 2018, after my wife Katie & I moved to Japan. We had completed a Couch to 5K program in the spring, but I didn’t fall in love with running at that time. However, after moving to Japan and needing to fill some time during the day, I used my relatively new running shoes to explore our new community.
I ran with very little structure. Sometimes I ran 4 miles around the block because I needed a mental health break after being inside most of the day. Sometimes I would run long distances along the Tama River Trail and enjoy the cherry blossoms in bloom. Mostly, I ran because I enjoyed it and the peace of mind it brought me.
Eventually after joining my local running club, I decided that I wanted to run races. Due to circumstances beyond my control, racing did not go as I hoped. However, several years after I finally felt comfortable calling myself a “runner,” I got the opportunity to return “home” and run a race in the place that helped me become a runner.
Why I’m running for TCF
Very rarely in life do we get a full-circle opportunity to give back to a person or organization that changed our lives. However, I get to do just that when I run the 2025 Tokyo Marathon. I got my spot in Tokyo through a special lottery drawing in September 2023, and I knew almost immediately that I had to use it as a chance to fundraise for The Change Foundation (TCF).
I would not be the person I am nor the runner I am without The Change Foundation. In October 2021, I ran the London Marathon, my first-ever marathon, as a charity runner for TCF. While I was physically and mentally prepared for the race, I was not emotionally prepared for the race day experience. Seeing so many other charity runners on the course that day set me on a path to continue running marathons for adapted athletics charities, which has become one of the most fulfilling components of my running. I have now completed four marathons and each time I have chosen to use my spot as an opportunity to fundraise for an adapted athletics charity.
In January 2019, my wife Katie & I attended an event at the Saitama (Japan) Prefectural School for the Blind, where Alex and Dan from TCF introduced visually impaired (VI) rugby to a group of Japanese athletes. With the use of vision simulators, I also got to play this incredible sport. The opportunity to play VI rugby and listen to the Japanese athletes talk about how it made them feel got me hooked on TCF’s mission to change the lives of marginalized people through sport.
In fall 2019, the England VI rugby team came to Tokyo to participate in a pair of friendly matches against the newly formed Japanese squad during the 2019 Rugby World Cup. It was during this visit that I learned TCF often had spots in the London Marathon, and I expressed that I’d love to run for the organization in the future. That opportunity came about only two years later.
Since running the London Marathon, I have continued following the impact of TCF’s programs on the lives of marginalized young people. It was especially exciting to watch the Japan VI rugby team participate in the first-ever Alex Bassan Cup in November 2024. The tournament brought together squads from Japan, England, Wales, and Ireland in the first-of-its-kind VI rugby tournament. I cannot wait to watch the sport continue to grow and hope to watch more countries compete for the next Bassan Cup trophy.
How TCF changes the world
The Change Foundation is an award-winning U.K. charity that uses sport to change the lives of marginalized young people. It delivers targeted long-term interventions for the most vulnerable young people in our communities through coach mentors with lived experience, providing regular sport, personalized mentoring, and work-related opportunities.
The Change Foundation was founded in 1981 following the Brixton Riots in south London, using cricket as a tool to promote community cohesion and peace during the conflict in the heart of the local community. For over 40 years, TCF has pioneered the use of sport for social change programs, helping children and young people across 40 countries around the world. These programs are designed and led by young people.
Guided by young people, The Change Foundation delivers sports programs that focus on social issues affecting them today, such as knife crime, social media addiction, disability inclusion, youth unemployment, and mental health issues. TCF exists to help young people find solutions to deal with these social issues through the power of sport.
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